Tuesday, 12 August 2014

Can A Citroen Grand C4 Picasso Cope With A Family Camping Trip?

With a round trip of over five hundred miles and an abundance of camping equipment, five children and two adults we thought our trip to Camp Bestival would be the perfect excuse to fully test a MPV. Packed to the gunnels, we headed off early in the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso on our adventure. Now I am huge fan of Citroen's style and dream of one day owning the classic DS, but am also rather tempted by the modern version. So I was interested to see what their seven seater family vehicle offered.

Like most MPV's the boot space is limited when you have all seven seats in use, but thankfully our younger passengers have shorter legs and we could stash some bags under their feet. However where the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso lacks on actual boot space it more than makes up for in comfort. Initially the children moaned that the seats were quite hard, but similar to Mercedes firm seat design, these are beneficial on a long journey. There were also ample cup holders and air con controls around the vehicle to keep everybody happy. Another nifty gadget is the button to close the boot, neatly tucked into the boot door, which avoids slamming the door shut and easier if you have arms full of luggage or shopping.

But now the nitty gritty of how this car really drives. Fully loaded it initially feels a little sluggish on pull off but there is plenty of mid range power as soon as you get it up to speed, which makes for a pleasant driving experience on the motorway. The rear view camera was a huge benefit to me when parking as I am a bit hopeless at reverse parking and I actually now miss this in my own little car. I also really liked the blindspot sensors, a handy addition on the motorway in busy traffic. The only negative I found was that the steering wheel was quite cluttered and am not convinced that the flappy paddle gear stick controls were necessary for an automatic car. It certainly took a little while to get used to where everything was and thankfully the manual was very comprehensive in helping me navigate the in car technology system. This touch screen system was fairly easy to use and the usb ports were great when phone batteries were low after a weekend of camping and when we needed to plug in a iPod instead of listening to the radio. Whilst we didn't go as far to personalise it with our own choice of wallpaper, this screen was a welcomed addition to an impressive car. Another thing I loved was that I could see the children even when in the back row of seats, due to the clever spacing of seats and the extra little mirror.

All photos are my own.

Overall the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso is an impressive, stylish and comfortable family car. It is economical and the added bonus of the stop-start technology added to it's economy and reduced its carbon footprint. Best of all it just about coped well with our demands of luggage space for a camping trip. So we would definitely recommend the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso as a family car and as a mother and woman driver, I loved it. I spend an awful lot of time driving a small car on my daily commute but as a large vehicle it was sturdy and safe to drive my most precious cargo, my family. What more could you ask for?

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